Look who’s kicking the can down the road

Wednesday

Jul 10, 2013 at 3:15 AM

It has been pointed out in news coverage of the student loan debate that all four members of the New Hampshire Congressional Delegation have filed or supported legislation which would have kept rates from doubling on July 1. But only one member of the delegation appears to have filed comprehensive legislation.

As is often the case with cursory news reports, we have found little indication of exactly how each of our House and Senate members was attacking the problem, so we took the most recent list of bills and decided to do some reading.

While it would be nice to say we found some surprises, it is more appropriate to write we found the same old, same old. That is, except for one piece of legislation which confronts the issue of rate-setting head on.

The list we used includes legislation supported/sponsored by U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (H.R. 1433 and 1595), U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster (H.R. 1595), U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (S. 1238) and U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (S. 1241). And here is what we found:

■ H.R. 1433 — To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the reduced interest rate for Federal Direct Stafford Loans. All this six-line bill does (not including headers and sponsors) is freeze rates for two years.

■ H.R. 1595 — To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the reduced interest rate for Federal Direct Stafford Loans. This four-line bill (again excluding headers and sponsors) also only freezes rates for two years.

■ S. 1238 — To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the current reduced interest rate for undergraduate Federal Direct Stafford Loans for 1 year, to modify required distribution rules for pension plans, and for other purposes.

As the purpose of this bill indicates, S. 1238 becomes complicated after is spends five lines extending loan rates for only one year. Unfortunately, the vast majority of this bill has nothing (as best we can tell) to do with student loan rates. Rather, its linage is spent on unrelated pension distribution and retirement payouts.

Finally comes S. 1241 — To establish the interest rate for certain Federal student loans, and for other purposes.

Unlike the other bills which simply kick the can down the road, S. 1241 attempts to set rates students will be able to predict and on which they can plan. It also deals with a wider range of student loans than the other bills — Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and Federal Direct PLUS Loans.

We are not going to pretend S. 1241 is the be-all and end-all of student loan fixes. It is, however, is a straight-forward attempt to set rates and not leave the problem to fester. Contrast this to the other bills which offer temporary freezes and no suggestions how to resolve the rate-setting dispute which has stymied Congress.

Unlike the other bills, S. 1241 is a responsible place to start a discussion even now that the eleventh hour has passed and rates have increased. Congress can still pass a student loan bill making it retroactive to July 1.

We urge New Hampshire’s entire congressional delegation to support S. 1241, not necessarily as a grand solution. It should be used to foster a collaborative effort to reach a bipartisan compromise.

By the way, for those who haven’t noticed, S. 1241 — the only bill with meat on the bone — is co-sponsored by Sen. Kelly Ayotte. We don’t know if that speaks more for Ayotte doing her job or the remaining members of the delegation neglecting theirs. Or maybe both?